Trouble logging in?We were forced to invalidate all account passwords. You will have to reset your password to login. If you have trouble resetting your password, please send us a message with as much helpful information as possible, such as your username and any email addresses you may have used to register. Whatever you do, please do not create a new account. That is not the right solution, and it is against our forum rules to own multiple accounts.

They are way better than the Naruto ones, since the fillers for Bleach actually have a storyline behind them, and some nice new characters.

agreed, compared to naruto fillers, bleach did a good job [except the end of the arc], but atl east it was worth watching [and it didnt last over 2 years!!], but many parts of the arc were contradicting with the original timeline and story, but thats forgivable in my eyes, anyway I have a question: Does HM have a different time frame to SS and the real world, as the talk about Arrancar flashbacks going back *years*, or have I just read a misstranslated copy?

Where in the manga was it actually specified that a requirement of becoming a Captain was that you had to have Bankai?
I remember the bits about either beating the former captain, being recommended, etc, but where is it said by someone "you need bankai to be a captain"?
Not counting Renji telling Ikkaku (sp?) that he has to be a captain coz he has bankai.....

Having Bankai and show it openly. This has to be displayed in front of the Captain-Commander (Yama-jii), and two other captains.

Get the approval of 6 captains and the affirmation of three captains, including the Captain-Commander...

Defeating the current captain with 200 witnesses of that specific division.

While most captains have bankai, this is not a prerequisite if you use methods 2 or 3. It is clearly stated that one of the captains, Zaraki Kenpachi, does not have bankai so he used method 3. It is very unlikely that someone could become a captain without bankai, but there is clear precendent. On the other hand, right now there are so many captain openings that they might let weaklings without bankai, like Kira, become a captain through method 2.

__________________

There's not that fine a line between willing suspension of disbelief and something just being stupid.

Having Bankai and show it openly. This has to be displayed in front of the Captain-Commander (Yama-jii), and two other captains.

Get the approval of 6 captains and the affirmation of three captains, including the Captain-Commander...

Defeating the current captain with 200 witnesses of that specific division.

While most captains have bankai, this is not a prerequisite if you use methods 2 or 3. It is clearly stated that one of the captains, Zaraki Kenpachi, does not have bankai so he used method 3. It is very unlikely that someone could become a captain without bankai, but there is clear precendent. On the other hand, right now there are so many captain openings that they might let weaklings without bankai, like Kira, become a captain through method 2.

This is also why Ikkaku wanted to keep his bankai a secret, because a bunch of people might then start pressuring him to be a captain (thru method 1), since the Gotai 13 lost 3 of theirs, leaving quite the vacuum of power, so to speak.

isn't that read as manji kai (which, that i know of, doesn't have any meaning). manji as in, well... manji or (more modern) swastika, and kai as in the solution of an equation. the only japanese word i know of for bankai that translates into english is recovery/restoration (挽回)... but it's not commonly used at all.

so, i think blood_knight is right... it's just for dramatic purposes ^_^